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What could be worse than drinking and bathing in water contaminated with dry cleaning chemicals? Doing so for more than six years. The Wichita Eagle reports that's what allegedly happened in a Wichita-area town with the knowledge of officials, who didn't intervene though they were alerted to the issue in 2011. That was the year a Kwik Shop wanted to expand, and while going through the motions of facilitating that, the state learned perchloroethylene (PCE) from a Haysville dry cleaner had contaminated groundwater in that location. But the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) didn't act on that knowledge, either by alerting residents or testing private wells within a mile.

KDHE apparently believed the contaminated groundwater was flowing southwest, putting it out of the path of private wells and the Cowskin Creek; in 2017, they learned the opposite was true. One resident whose private well was tested discovered the water contained 49 parts per billion of PCE, roughly 10 times what the EPA allows. Some 200 homes have since been moved onto city water, but residents are still displeased. The Eagle notes PCE can accumulate in a person's body and could negatively impact the nervous and reproductive systems, liver, and kidneys; studies indicate it could cause an elevated risk of some cancers. Read the full story at the Eagle, which goes into the odd backstory about the 1995 state law that instructs the KDHE not to search for sites contaminated by dry cleaners. (Read more contaminated water stories.)

Remember kids, the government is not your friend. I was taught at a very early age that if anyone ever comes to the door and says "I am from the government and I am here to help" shut and lock the door then scream for an adult.

Daniel Brown

Aug 27, 2018 10:32 PM CDT

When you are in a poor town or city - the city officials can and WILL turn a blind eye because of job security. Look at Flint. Don't drink water - drink distilled urine or milkshakes. Fluoride is in our drinking water not because Uncle Sam wants you to avoid any cavities. DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THE GOVERNMENT GIVES A SH*T ABOUT YOUR DENTAL CARE? It's because energy and industrial companies pay our government to dispose of industrial processing byproducts CHEAPLY. For an example fluoride is a byproduct of aluminium foil - companies that make aluminium foils either pay a lot to dispose it by regulatory laws....or "sell" it to the government so they can "dispose of it".

Chris Gervais

Aug 27, 2018 7:25 PM CDT

Does anyone else hate and distrust the government as much as I do. Are these frigging politicians even human or just a bunch of greedy nasty gremlins from hell?